Safety shoe



May 4, 1937. A. R. ALLARI? 2,079,237

SAFETY SHOE Filei March 26, 1956 25 Flaps".

ARTHUR H. Ru. nRn.

ATTORNEY Patented May 4, 1937 UNITED STATES eATssr orrics 12 Claims.

My invention relates to safety shoes and it has for an object to providemeans to fit over the toe of a shoe to resist deformation of the latterby impact.

In many occupations requiring the handling and lifting of objects ofvarious kinds, the hazard of personal injury because of accidentlydropping articles on feet of workers should be guarded against. As thetoe portion of a shoe is ordinarily well located for injury, inaccordance with my invention, a stiff and impact-resistant shield isprovided arranged to cover the toe.

A further object of my invention is to provide a shoe toe shield havingmeans so that it may be readily attached to and detached from anordinary shoe.

A further object of my invention is to provide a shoe toe shield havingrearwardly inclined pins for insertion into rearwardly-inclined openingsprovided in the shoe sole, together with looking pins for insertion inopenings provided therefor in the sole after insertion of the inclinedpins in their openings.

These and other objects are effected by my invention, as will beapparent from the following description and claims taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing forming a part of this application, inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a shoe showing my improved shield appliedthereto;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational View of the shield drawn to larger scalethan Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the apparatus shown'in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line IV-IV ofFig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken along the line VV of Fig. 3 and,

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view taken along the line VIVI of Fig. 4.

Referring now to the apparatus more in detail, in Fig. 1, I show anordinary shoe, at It], provided with the usual toe portion and having asole l I, which, as is usual, has an outer exposed marginal portion Ila. My invention is concerned with the provision of an armor or shieldfor the toe portion of a shoe and this will now be described.

The armor or shield comprises a body l2 conforming to and arranged tofit over the toe of a shoe, such body being made of any suitable stiffor impact-resistant material, such as steel and the like; and, ifdesired, stiffness and strength of the shield may be increased byforming the latter with ribs l3. As shown, the ribs I3 extendtransversely of the toe and stiffen the intermediate portion thereofjoined to the lower upright marginal portion. The upright marginalportion has adequate stiffness, not only because of its curvature, butalso because the substantially vertical or upright disposition rendersthe material thereof highly efiective to resist any compression impactstresses. Furthermore, it is unnecessary to provide the ribs at theextreme toe portion for the reason that the latter is adequately curvedor arched in a compound manner to be highly resistant to deformation inall directions. As the marginal portion is adequately strong withouthaving ribs, the surface thereof is not deformed with the result that,not only may a closer fit of the shield with respect to the shoe toe behad, but also space is left for the fastening devices, as will bedescribed.

The shield is held in place by front and back rearwardly-inclined pinsl4 and I5 extending from the bottom edge l6 thereof, the pins l4 and I5being arranged to fit rearwardly-inclined openings I l and I8 providedin the outwardlyextending marginal portion Ila. of the shoe sole.

The shield also carries movable locking pins l9 arranged substantiallyat right angles to the bottom edge It, the locking pins being arrangedfor insertion in locking pin openings 20 as shown in Fig. 1.

To assemble the shield with respect to a shoe, inclined openings I1 andiii are provided in the marginal portion of the sole by means of an awl,or the like, and then the shield is placed in position, with theinclined pins l4 and I5 arranged in the openings I! and I8,respectively, the locking pins l9 being retracted to the position shownby the dot and dash lines in Fig. 2.

The proper positions for the openings 20 may then readily be determinedand such openings provided in the same manner as the openings H and I8,or the openings 20 may have been located and. provided at the same timeas the openings El and 18.

With the pins 1 4 and IS in their inclined openings I! and I8 and withthe locking pins 19 retracted, the next step is to insert the lockingpins in the openings 20, and this is done by moving the locking pinsfrom the position shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 2 to the full lineposition thereof.

The locking pins are associated with spring means carried by the shield,the spring means normally serving to bias the pins H! to unlockedposition and the pins being held in locked position by means of suitableabutments 22 carried by the shield.

Preferably, the spring means is provided by wire elements 23 connectedto the shield at 24, the wire elements conforming to the shape of theshield and having its end portions constructed to provide the pins l4and I9. With this type of construction, the locking pins are held inlocking position by means of the abutment-s engage ing above the wires23; however, if the wires 23 are deflected outwardly so as to freelypass the abutments 22, the spring effect in such wires will cause themto assume the dot and dash line position shown in Fig. 2 with thelocking pins in unlocked position.

From the structure so far described, it will be apparent that the shieldmay be firmly locked to a shoe sole by the cooperative action of thefront and back inclined pins M and I5 and the locking pins IS, theinclined pins l4 and I5 serving to anchor the shield in place and thelocking pins preventing disengagement of the pins I and I5 from theiropenings I! and H3. The bottom edge It of the shield is preferablyserrated,

' as shown at 25, so that such edge will bite into the upper surface ofthe shoe sole to resist being flattened or deflected by blows.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptibleof various changes and modifications, without departing from the spiritthereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall beplaced thereupon asare imposed by the prior art or as are specificallyset forth in the appended claims.

What I' claim is:

1. In a safety device for a shoe, a construction adapted to fit over thetoe of the shoe for resisting deformation of such toe by impact,rearwardly inclined pins fixedly connected to the construction forinsertion in inclined openings provided in the shoe sole, and lockingpins adapted to fit in openings provided therefor in the sole afterinsertion of the inclined pins in their openings, said locking pins andtheir openings extending substantially at right angles to the shoe sole.

2. In a safety device for a shoe, a construction adapted to fit over thetoe of the shoe for resisting deformation of such toe by impact,rearwardly inclined pins fixedly connected to the construction forinsertion in inclined openings provided in the shoe sole, locking pinsadapted to fit in openings provided therefor in the sole after insertionof the inclined pins in their openings, said locking pins and theiropenings extending substantially at right angles to the shoe sole, andmeans for mounting the locking pins on the construction and providingfor movement of such pins so that they may be caused to enter and to beretracted from their openings.

3. In a safety device for a shoe, a construction adapted to fit over thetoe of the shoe for resisting deformation of such toe by impact,rearwardly inclined pins fixedly connected to the construction forinsertion in inclined openings provided in the shoe sole, locking pinsadapted to fit in openings provided therefor in the sole after insertionof the inclined pins in their openings, said locking pins and theiropenings extending substantially at right angles to the shoe sole,spring means carried by the construction and connected to the lockingpins, the force of the spring means being effective to lift or toretract the locking pins, and means carried by the construction to holdthe locking pins in looking position against the force of the springmeans.

4. In a safety device for a shoe, a construction adapted to fit over thetoe of the shoe for resisting deformation of such toe by impact,rearwardly inclined pins fixedly comiected to the construction forinsertion in inclined openings provided in the shoe sole, locking pinsadapted to fit in openings provided therefor in the sole after insertionof the inclined pins in their openings, said locking pins and theiropenings extending substantially at right angles to the shoe sole, awire spring joined to the construction and to said locking pins andbiasing the latter to unlocked position, and abutments on theconstruction for engagement with the Wire spring to hold the lockingpins in locked position.

5. In asafety device for a shoe, an armor resistant to deformationadapted to fit over the toe of the shoe, rearwardly inclined pinsfixedly secured to the armor and adapted to fit similarly inclinedopenings formed in the sole of the shoe, and locking pins carried by thearmor and adapted to be inserted in openings in the shoe sole afterinsertion of the inclined pins in their openings.

6. In a safety device for a shoe, an armor resistant to deformationadapted to fit over the toe of the shoe, rearwardly inclined pinsfixedly secured to the armor and adapted to fit similarly inclinedopenings formed in the sole of the shoe, locking pins adapted to beinserted in openings in the shoe sole after insertion of the inclinedpins in their openings, and means for movably mounting the locking pinson the armor and providing for holding such pins in looking position.

7. In a safety device for a shoe, a metallic shield conforming to andadapted to fit over the toe of the shoe to resist deformation of suchtoe by impact, said shield having a serrated bottom edge for engagementwith the upper surface of the margin of the sole exposed beyond the toe,and releasable holding means for attaching the shield to said margin.

8. In a safety device for a shoe, a metallic shield conforming to andadapted to fit over the toe of the shoe to resist deformation of suchtoe by impact, front and back rearwardly inclined pins fixedly securedto the shield and adapted to enter inclined openings provided in theshoe sole, and locking pins carried by the shield and movable forinsertion in openings provided therefor in the sole after insertion ofthe inclined pins in their openings.

9. In a safety device for a shoe, a metallic shield conforming to andadapted to fit over the toe of the shoe to resist deformation of suchtoe by impact, front and back rearwardly inclined pins fixedly securedto the shield and adapted to enter inclined openings provided in theshoe sole, movable locking pins carried by the shield for insertion inopenings, provided therefor in the sole, after insertion of the inclinedpins in their openings, spring means for holding the locking pins inretracted position, and means for holding the locking pins in lookingposition against the force of the spring means.

10. In a safety device for a shoe, a metallic shield conforming to andadapted to fit over the toe of the shoe to resist deformation of suchtoe by impact, front and back rearwardly inclined pins fixedly securedto the shield and adapted to enter inclined openings provided in theshoe sole, locking pins carried by the shield and movable for insertionin openings, provided therefor in the sole, after insertion of theinclined pins in their openings, spring means for holding the lockingelements whose end portions constitute the front inclined and thelocking pins ,and said holding means being constituted by an abutment onthe shield for engagement above the wire elements to hold the lockingpins in locking position.

11. In a safety device for a shoe, a metallic shield conforming to andadapted to fit over the toe of the shoe to resist deformation of suchtoe by impact and means for detachably connecting the shield toa shoe,said means comprising first and second pins extending in non-paralleldirections and arranged to fit in openings provided therefor in themargin of the shoe sole exposed beyond the toe, each first pin beingfixedly secured to the. shield, and means providing for movement of eachsecond pin, whereby, with the latter retracted, the shield may bepositioned with each first pin inserted in its opening or be removedwith removal of each first pin from its opening, and with each first pinin its opening, each second pin may be moved from retracted positioninto its opening in order to lock the shield in place with respect to ashoe.

12. In a safety device for a shoe, ashield resistant todeformation andadapted to fit over the toe of the shoe and means for connecting theshield to the shoe and providing for ready attachment and detachmentthereof, said means including rearwardly inclined pins fixedly securedto the shield and adapted to fit similarly inclined openings formed inthe shoe sole and locking means carried by the shield and movablerelatively to the latter to effect engagement with the shoe sole afterinsertion of the inclined pins in their openings in order to lock theshield in place with respect to the toe of the shoe.

ARTHUR R. ALLARD.

